Striving For Excellence

By J.J. Edward

The success literature of the last two hundred years has been focused on self-enhancement, social relationships and human effectiveness. No doubt, it has created a dent in business and management. Much more is required than success, as a human being is also called to excellence in the present millennium. Here is an attempt to explain some inner secrets of life. A human is of the star stuff and he has the fire of the divine and he cannot be satisfied, if the basic longings are not fulfilled. We need to create a true human who brings great glory to the maker.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781716205460

Book preview

Striving For Excellence

J. J. Edward

OGMC Publications

2021

Copyright © 2021 by Organizational Governance Management Consultants (OGMC)

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

Although the author and the publisher have made every effort to ensure accuracy and completeness of information entered in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or inconsistencies included herein. Any slights of people, places, or organizations are completely unintentional.

All inquiries should be addressed to (e-mail): [e-mail]

First Printing: 2021

ISBN: 978-1-716-20546-0

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Authors’ Profile

The author J. J. Edward, Sri Lankan by nationality, a catholic priest, educationalist. He is MA in English, MA in educational planning and management, MA and PhD in Future Studies.

He is professor of philosophy at St. Francis Xavier Institute, Lahore, Pakistan. He has long been interested in comparative religion, spirituality and mysticism in all the religions.

He, is motivational scholar, outlines how people can empower their inner selves by working towards humanism and peace. He firmly believes in social mission, spiritual fitness and secretive victories to make this world a peaceful place.

He is the author of several books Striving for Excellence, A Practical Spirituality: A Spirituality for the Third Millennium, Self Actualization, Reflection for your Journey of Life, The Future Trends, Tips of Life, Mystic Life Style for Every Man, English Language and Grammar, Bible Reflections and many more.

Table of Contents

1.      The Secret Life

1.1

      

Avoid Negative Thoughts

1.2

      

Do not Control Events; Control Your Response

1.3

      

Learn from Suffering and Pain.

1.4

      

Failure: Celebrate It

1.5

      

Awaken Your Latent Power

1.6

      

The Most Important Thing

2.      The Earth is Paradise

2.1

      

The Flow of Energy in the Universe

2.2

      

Fall in Love with Life with All its Imperfections

2.3

      

Develop Respect and Love for Nature

2.4

      

Action Creates Energy

3.      Primary Greatness

3.1

      

Character: The Source of Primary Greatness

3.2

      

A Life of Excellence is about Primary Greatness

3.3

      

Time Management

3.4

      

Essentials of Leadership

4.      Characteristic of Great People

4.1

      

Discipline

4.2

      

Determination

4.3

      

Detachment

4.4

      

Kindness

4.5

      

Reading

4.6

      

Be Organized

4.7

      

Be Ethical

4.8

      

Believe

4.9

      

Character

4.10

      

Happiness

4.11

      

Integrity

4.12

      

Meditation

4.13

      

Five meditations

4.14

      

Prayer

4.15

      

Passion

4.16

      

Work

4.17

      

Enthusiasm

5.      Concentrate on Continual Improvement

5.1

      

You Can Change Your Genes and Memes

5.2

      

You Create Your Environment

5.3

      

Habits Contributing to Effectiveness

5.4

      

Grow to Merit Position and Status

6.      Work on Yourself

6.1

      

Be True to Yourself

6.2

      

10 Steps to Align Yourself with the Universe

6.3

      

Unschedule Yourself: Time Out for Daydreaming

6.4

      

Laugh More- Especially at Yourself

6.5

      

Stretch Yourself and Accept Tough Jobs

6.6

      

Imagination is More Powerful than Knowledge

7.      The Miracles of Your Mind

7.1

      

Inner Freedom

7.2

      

Your Mind Can Perform Miracles

7.3

      

Creativity and Miracle in Your Life

8.      Make Your Life a Work of Art

8.1

      

Program for Peaceful Life

8.2

      

Useful Guidance for a Rich Life

8.3

      

Extraordinary life

8.4

      

To Lead is to Help Others Succeed

8.5

      

Innovate and Reinvent

8.6

      

Listening and Adapting

8.7

      

Bodily Exercise

8.8

      

Worthy Goals

9.      The New Year Resolutions

9.1

      

Connect to a Higher Purpose

9.2

      

The Still Small Voice Within

9.3

      

Listen to Your Heart and Leave the Shore of Safety

9.4

      

The Abundance Principle and the Practice of Giving

10.      Victory for the Human Spirit

10.1

      

Getting Along with Others

10.2

      

Getting Old Gracefully

10.3

      

Charity and Gratitude

10.4

      

Compassion is the Only Worthy Motive

10.5

      

Altruistic Passion – Compassion

11.      Human Relations

11.1

      

Public Relations

11.2

      

Some Guidelines for Effective Service

11.3

      

Guidelines for Conversation

11.4

      

Effective and Desirable Personality

11.5

      

Personality and Relationship

12.      The Law of Attraction

12.1

      

Basic Positive Attitudes to be Adopted

12.2

      

Work Smartly and Perseveringly

13.      The Traditional Picture of Success Ideals

13.1

      

The Four Intelligences

13.2

      

Five Cancerous Behaviors

13.3

      

The Nine-Step Process of Manifestation

13.4

      

How to Solve Your Personal Problem?

Bibliography

Foreword

The success literature of the last two hundred years has been focused on self-enhancement, social relationships and human effectiveness. No doubt, it has created a dent in business and management. Much more is required than success, as a human being is also called to excellence in the present millennium.

A human is not only called to self-actualization but also self-transcendence. He is called to forget himself in the ecstasy of the other. He can find meaning only in the service of the other. He has to find meaning in true selfless service, even at the cost of his dear life. He is called to godliness here on earth. The mere success ideals of success literature often smack of selfishness and aggressiveness and lack the elements of integrity, honesty, authenticity and self-transcendence.

A human being is an animal with his physical needs. He is a friend and thus can be effective through a meaningful relationship. He is also a craftsman and in that capacity, he has to develop his mind and learn various skills to handle and manage his life. He has also to be a saint, which means he has to be authentic and true to himself and has fulfilled himself as a spirit and grow in the experience of God.

It’s more important to be faithful than to be successful. It is important that we follow our bliss, even if there is no money in it.

Here is an attempt to explain some inner secrets of life. A human is of the star stuff and he has the fire of the divine and he cannot be satisfied, if the basic longings are not fulfilled. We need to create a true human who brings great glory to the maker.

In this busy world, we need to dip into a book, for a few minutes amid activities, in between the busy hours to receive insight and inspiration from the wisdom of the ages.

J. J. Edward

Striving for Excellence

Going beyond success is excellence. In fact, you are called to excellence. Glory to God is a human fully alive. Ignore success. Excellence is a way of life, a way of being, not a steady state to be achieved. Excellence can be obtained, if you care more than others think is wise; risk more than others this is safe; dream more than others think is practical; expect more than others think is possible.

You ‘achieve’ excellence by promising yourself right now that you’ll never again knowingly do anything that’s not excellent—regardless of any pressure to do otherwise in any situation. In tough times, the pressure is such that there is often a temptation to cut corners. In tough times, it’s hard to get out of bed.

Think Excellence. Tough times are the ultimate test for you. In Zen-like terms, all we have is today. The Excellence watch must be a daily affair or you simply are not serious about the overall aspiration of excellence. Surrender to your passion, practice daily, get a guide, visualize your outcome, play the edge.

Relevant Questions

A wise sage met a beggar on the street one day. The beggar, not knowing to whom he was speaking and asked him three questions: Why are you here? Where are you going? Is there an important reason that you are going there? The sage looked at the beggar and asked how much money he generally made on a given day. On hearing the honest answer given to him, the sage said, Please come and work for me. I will pay you ten times that amount if only you will ask me these three questions before I do my meditation, early each and every morning.

What is the purpose of my life?

What do I value?

What do I live for and why?

What makes me happy?

What must I be doing?

What can I do to leave my mark in this world?

What must I do to make my life meaningful, effective and successful?

What am I good at?

What are my talents?

When I am free, what kind of work do I find myself doing?

Why was I promoted and why was I not promoted?

If I had to relive, what different thing would I do and why?

What would God like me to do, now?

If I die today what will be written about me?

What will people say about me?

What will people write on my tombstone about my life?

Which need in the society can I fill with my talents and capabilities

The Secret Life

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden. Frances Hodgson Burnett

We all live three lives: public, private, and secret. The secret life is where your heart is, where your real motives are-the ultimate desires of your life.

If you want to improve the outer world, you must first improve your inner world commit yourself to continuous improvement. The inner world is superior to the outer world. The spirit of which you are a part is the infinite energy. Improvements is an inside game.

Public victory is proceeded by personal victory. You will never be able to eliminate a weakness you don’t even know about. They must be held into the light. Weakness brought into the light of self-awareness begins to disappear. If you have become a negative thinker, this is because you have not cared for your mind. We become what we think about.

The secret life is the mainspring that motivates the other two lives. Many people never visit the secret life. Their public and private lives are essentially scripted by what surrounds them or by the pressures of the environment. Thus, they never exercise that unique endowment of the self-awareness-the key to the secret life-where you can stand apart from yourself and observe yourself.

Courage is required to explore your secret life because you must first withdraw from the social mirror- the reflection of yourselves. The secret life is where your heart is, where your real motives are- the ultimate desires of your life.

You must visit your secret life and ask, "What do I think? What do I believe is right? What should my motives be? One of the exciting fruits of the secret life is the ability to consciously choose your motives. Until you choose your own motives, you really can’t choose to live your own life.

No man has ever yet achieved prosperity while carrying around a mean house atmosphere. The poverty thought, the fear thought, are fatal to achievement. Orison Swett Marden

If you keep a record you will find that thirty to fifty negative thoughts cross your mind every hour or so, leading to your being tired. Once negative words are eliminated, you will notice a tremendous change for the better and you will be on your way up the ladder.

Block pernicious thoughts and short-circuit all negative communication as soon as they start entering your mind. If you think you can do something, you will increase your chances of doing it. Optimism will get you moving and depressing thoughts will bog you down. The mind can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. If you think differently and positively you will get different and positive results.

Learn to Think Positively

Use your right brain more frequently to build a positive self-image to support your vision. Give yourself a pep-talk every day. Believe in yourself, your mission, your dream. Replace your disempowering beliefs with empowering beliefs. The conscious mind makes a selection and the subconscious mind follows it. Successful people always say Yes, I can do it. I can do anything. No problem. That is not a big deal. It is wonderful. It is great. It is exciting. It is superb.

The subconscious mind is your servant

Its job is to make you make what you want to feel. So obey the command, it will make you feel great. Always use big and positive words to describe your feelings about yourself, about people around you, about what you think you are capable of doing. Whether you think you can or think you can’t you are right (Henry Ford)

Optimism is the habit of focusing on the good and joyful aspects of life. Make up your mind not to dwell on negative things. Dwell on whatever things that are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, and whatever things are lovely.

Surround yourself with optimistic people

While you should be friendly to everyone, one should be selective when it comes to choosing your companions who will be around you most of the time. Optimism is contagious, just as pessimism is. Talk optimistically, both to yourself and to others. Do not, even as a joke, disseminate pessimism. Be known as a person who always gives words of encouragement and hope.

Leave Cynical and Negative Friends

Politely walk away from friends’ who don’t support your goals. The people with whom you associate will change your life. If you associate with cynics, they’ll pull you down with them. When you’re in a conversation with a pessimist, possibilities seem to have a way of disappearing and a narrow sense of cynicism settles in. Cynics do not create.

Never Think You Are Weak

Vedanta recognizes no sin and according to it the greatest error is to say that you are weak and that you are a sinner and a miserable creature having no power. All successful people are optimists to the extent of being crazy. They were always interested in using the right side of the brain. The right side is intuitive, problem-solver and synthetic. When you enter into your imagination, you are engaging your right brain and telling your left brain to take a back seat. If you just want to criticize, it is the left side of the brain, the right side is intuitive, problem-solver and synthetic. Use your right